Lithium Lotus
by gunner brat
Summary: Years after Parista, and Pratty became Craft Lord of Iron, it was time to pass on the torch as a new threat emerged from a land far off. The only chance for redemption is the Lithium Lotus.
1. The beast that sleeps

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I making money off of this

His lips curled into a sneer and he barely bit back urge to shout and kick the piteous creature off of his leg. The silently weeping thing was clinging to him like a leech and he resisted the urge to swing his tail hard at the boy. He was thankful for the silence but the boy couldn't even do that right as he made animal like whining and sharp keening sounds that were meant to incite pity to those who heard it. The boy even sounded like a dog, so if anyone saw him, the weak wretch, would be clinging hair whining like spurned puppy. The whines simply got louder and looking at the dirty thing he was reminded of a starving dog who displeased his master and had nothing to eat for several days. The boy strong in body was the weakest he'd ever seen a human and so he seduced the boy sweetly at first then harshly until instead of walking beside he followed behind. His control over the boy was unparalleled he knew, and it was his weak mind, that allowed it to be so. He leeched strength daily so he could begin to manifest in a physical form.

The process was probably painful for the boy. He could probably feel himself getting weaker. It ate away at his physical strength but the boy was vain, and driven, and kept fit by force of will and exercise. He could care less but the boy keeping up his strength simply meant that he could take more and he encouraged the boy at first. Then the boy simply did it without him- and he had to stop to keep the boy healthy. The boy was simply deteriorating faster than he could heal and his usefulness was fading with it.

He left the boy to his whimpering. The boy was broken beyond comfort. At length he finally moved but it was only to kick the boy so he looked like he was fitfully sleeping rather then being unable to sleep. The boy was finally quiet and he eyed his claws. It would be a mercy now to slaughter the boy in his bed in peace. However, he was not in the mood to be merciful to the annoying wretched creature that laid in bed, and tortured the beast until he ran out beyond safe boundaries. The boy didn't stand a chance without him and with him, he only stood a slim chance of survival, but he didn't even lift a finger to help. The boy perished and only chance got the little parts remaining were sent to the family.

There he waited for the next chance. Another would come in time. He was patient. The boy gave him a good run but he needed a full return. He fell asleep and despite himself dreamed of his perfect vessel. Enough strength to give him for a full return, a strong mind to keep his hidden and pliable and loyal.

The seals glowed and he glared at them. Even if he got out and possessed someone they would be sniffed out by those wards. He knew the only ones who could pass even under an influence was the one family that made him seals. He could sense them. Many of them could be corrupted but he needed someone pure and strong. The one he needed should be strong enough to resist him, and act on her own, but ultimately always defer to him. His lips curled into a smile. The chance would come and when it did, they would not stand a chance. He could lure with sugar, trap with honey, and pour vinegar over the remains. They glowed brighter but he simply ignored them. No one would stop him from a permanent escape.


	2. The stranger returns

Disclaimer: I do not own Summon Night nor am making money off of this.

"Halt! Stranger, what is your purpose for your visit and where is your pass?" the red guard shouted loudly as he stretched his hand out glaring.

Cori feigned disinterest as she quietly eyed the guard. He was new and she looked as foreign as the actual visitors to him despite being a resident of the city. She bit back a sigh but looked around at the murmuring crowd that was beginning to form. The actual visitors were looking at her suspiciously, and the one who knew her was pointing and laughing silently at her plight. Her eyes narrowed and she bit back a growl. She was about to bring out her pass but he spoke again.

"I need your papers as well, stranger, because there's no way you are from here.." he said.

The crowd murmured even louder. Her guild mates and fellow craft knights were laughing at the situation away from the sight of the crowd. She fumed at the slight. She had lived here longer than him, in all likelihood, and he seemed decided that she was a stranger. She glared at him and glancing at the other guard who was staring impassively ahead with a stony look in his eye there was no way she'd get help from him. He knew her and for some reason seemed to hate her with a passion.

"I don't have any papers as I became a citizen of this city years ago. I can show you my pass, and if that is wrong, I'm sure there are people in the Gold Guild that can vouch for my identity," she said as she held out the pass.

The man seemed move in slow motion as he was about to hit her hand and throw down her identification to the floor until a familiar voice in an indulgent tone, "Stay your hand, sir, unless you wish to lose it. If you did your job and took it, you'd see she's telling you the truth and you are just making a scene and delaying the people behind her," the male voice said.

The guard stilled and following his gaze and where the voice came from and saw the crowd part murmuring. A tall blond man appeared and moved in front of her and she backed up a few steps and surveyed the situation. Every visitor was silent or pointing at the man and now the craft knights having taken up front row seats who where quietly talking. The guard that stopped her was flushed and looked angry, with the second guard smirking in vague amusement.

"Master Varil! What an honor- you may pass, and I'll look at her pass as you advise, " the man simpered cowed by the glare that Varil was probably giving the man.

Varil stepped back and she walked around him and presented it and with a look over it and his papers, was allowed to pass without another word, and she dashed to the stairs but after only a few steps stopped for the hand that caught her shoulder. It was light but knowing who it was it might as well have been a tight vice grip. She froze and didn't jerk away or shrug it off finally the light pressure faded and she heard his hand drop. Varil stood beside her and together they walked in silence to his rooms. The patrolling guards gave speculative glances but didn't stop either of them as they passed. Varil seemed not to notice it and if he did shrug it off but she was still annoyed so it pushed her closer to the edge. The door was almost closed when he began to speak.

"I'm sorry about that, If I knew I would have..." he said as his hand finally closed the door with his face half turned to her.

She silenced the apology with a firm look and a casual wave," I was the one who suggested finally to meet here. If we met at the inn, tongues would wag even more then with what just happened. You always seem to blame yourself for things that go wrong,sir" she said with the unusual emphasis and tone when she was alone with him.

Then both were silent until she began to speak again, this time with less fire and sharpness, "I don't get why you seem so flustered around me, Varil,"she said looking up towards him.

"This is the first time, in a long time, that you've called me anything but sir. I gave you permission a while ago to call me by my name. Why is it that you haven't done so before now?," Varil asked in amazement.

"It is quite improper for a girl to do so before she is nearly of age to a man. Prior to now, if I did, my traitorous mind would think of the fact that a girl only calls her husband to be by his first name..." she said trailing off.

"Does that mean you think of me as an unfitting husband?," Varil said teasingly.

"I think any woman would be lucky to have you, but I'm hardly fit to be a fellow crafts knights wife, much less one who holds such a high title," she said.

Varil gave a loud honest laugh at that, "If you were interested, then regardless of what rank I hold, it is I, who would be unworthy. You have no idea the attention you attract, or how many since prior to you coming near of age- that knowing your former customs that you still follow- how many would be suitors I've had to decline for your hand in marriage."

"Well, as my guardian, it would be your right to do so, but not by this nations laws. They weren't wrong though, that if any were interested before I turned seventeen, that I wouldn't consider without your approval..." she trailed off.

"When I became your guardian does that not mean that I was exempt from marriage?" he said.

"There are two types of guardians and in the case of abandonment- it is not uncommon for older gentle person to become legal guardian to a younger in order to groom for marriage to themselves. I trust that you would not but, fear, is nothing but irrational at times," she said.

"True enough, well I didn't come to talk to you about that, I wanted to know if you would consent to becoming my actual student of mine. I have followed your accomplishments, and checked every commission you've done, and you are doing quite well. The only solid term or condition, would be, that you will have to get your own guardian beast," he said quickly at the start and slower at the end.

Cori froze at his rushed statement. She had thought he wanted to talk something entirely different. The letters up until the six month period where she didn't send a single one, was about how she would come of age and be allowed to travel. She thought that he was offering his boat when in port to use. The last letter she sent was a week ago when they were setting a date and place to meet. Staring at the silent and solemn Varil her mouth moved up and down but no words came. Finally she found her voice and it was quiet and shaking even to her own ears.

"I'm afraid this offer was rather sudden. I would need time to think to give an answer. I thought you wanted to talk about travel as that's the last thing we talked about..." she trailed off.

"I asked this meeting out of selfishness because I hadn't heard from you in a long time and with how we parted I was certain you'd burn the letters. You would not send me one and I was getting impatient. I know this is asking too much but with no craft lord planning on retiring, you would not have many career opportunities unless you travelled, and that would have been something you would have done yourself after saving enough. I can't help you with that if you decline, but I can help you, if you became a student of mine," he said smoothly with an undercurrent of pleading tone.

"I can't give you an answer right now!" she said fiercely glaring at the calm craft lord.

"I'm not asking that you do, only that you consider it. You will still be a craft knight- only instead of a guild- you'll report only to me- and I'll be able to help you since you don't seem to get much help from your peers.." he trailed off.

A knock on the door stopped all conversation. He looked irate but she opened the door and a guard came in. He looked harried and was looking pleadingly at Varil. Varil bit back a soft sigh and dismissed her with a glance as she left she closed the door. He was careless in his words and actions like he was probably in his youth when around her. She considered his words but as she walked on forced herself to focus on the immediate commission. There was time after she had work to think on it.


	3. A restless night

Disclaimer: I do not own nor am I making money off of this.

Cori woke up after seeing Varil's bloody face and mangled body appear in her head again. It was near sunrise as the vivid pinks, yellows, oranges mixed with softer shades of the same. She tried to remember what her first house looked like- and thought of what Varil said of it. She always pictured it on a street full of houses, roads, and full of life around it. There was dated houses, ill kept and tired, and new ones to replace the dated which took up most of the street. The old houses were classical but the owners couldn't maintain the outside facade, or didn't want to. The new houses with the owners newly rich or influential- maybe both- she amended in her mind- was full of shiny new things and the key rooms full of old things that were bought at such a high price that it was the price of an apartment combined, if not more. Her house was the largest, and oldest but other then aged from the elements it was cared for well beyond the normal. The price of maintaining the facade was more than most households but her family had pride. The outside was immaculate as the new houses, with the insides a mix of both modern and traditional. It had most, modern comforts, and several traditional items from the years gone by. Her favorite room was the weapons room and the smithy. Crafters paid rent to use it, and she was often underfoot of everyone who worked there. She found it a safe place from her brothers.

He said that it was worn down but well cared for. He had come on originally on a commission of a sword but consented to teaching the basics of his art .He was to be given housing and food but also to be paid by the end of it minus the upkeep cost. The servants seemed terrified at first and when he approached ran away though they seemed well taken care of. Their masters were an odd bunch. She was lucky to get away from them, he said, with a hard look in his eyes. The youngest of the group was her sister two years younger but seemed the hardest of them all. The second youngest were two years older than her , a male and female, with looks similar they would have been almost identical if both of the same sex. The middle was the the second son and he seemed to be the runt of group as even the youngest was taller and more forceful. The second eldest was the eldest daughter and the most intelligent and beautiful of the children though she wouldn't be considered a minor much longer when Varil visisted. The eldest of them all was their first born son. Already grown and living in a house on the property, he was a hard man, mature, and serious.

Her parents seemed kindly but she inherited their benign looks, but razor sharp tongue. They herded him in and he was introduced to them and their children. He was offered a place of honor with them and remembering what he heard Cori say, and the quick skim, of the materials accepted with a bow. They looked in shock as displayed proper manners, as a foreigner. They tested him but he didn't rise to any bait, and if he stumbled it was only so minor that by the end of their visit, he was at least as a stranger, warmly treated and welcome.

The look in his eyes when he talked about it though made the questions die in her throat. It was hard and she didn't like his tone when talking about it. It was only after some time that he described her father as an lightly grey haired man, and mother a young beauty, who seemed almost too eager to please her husband. The children fought each other in private but in the public they were a fierce force to be reckoned with. He worked with the new servants who seemed to be permanently attached to the smithy. They said nothing but their eyes said everything needed, he said, with a wince. The house was modified and there were chambers added below the smithy. Ventilation wasn't a priority and he was treated a bit coldly when he insisted but they relented. He said that they simply shrugged their shoulders and said that skilled servants were hard to find, and if they put in the effort to train them, then they needed to last to get the full benefit. She thought of the conversation relayed to her.

"So you are engaged to my second youngest then?" her father said after dinner when they were alone and the old man was teaching him how to play.

"I have only met your children recently. I am uncertain as to why you think me engaged to one of them," Varil said uneasily with a shaky voice.

"No, no. I mean Cori- I have kept tabs on her and I'm happy to see that she is doing so well under your care," the man said.

"Check and Mate," Varil thought, "I am not engaged to her, sir. If anything I view her as a daughter to me, not as a future wife," is what he said.

"You have my blessings if you do wish to wed her. My children care not for their weakest siblings, and my wife, she is not the woman that Cori's mother was. I would not wish her to be here, with the way things are going..." the man trailed off with a troubled look on his face.

"Does your wife or children know that you have knowledge of the 'lost child' of your family?" he asked apprehensively.

"They don't care- as I said- and the idea of doing so is foreign to them. It was the scheme of my eldest as it was she, who would have inherited the bulk, of what he valued. To bring to light- ah- would reveal too many shadows- and bring her into danger. My eldest as wicked as he is- he is forgetful, and he didn't remember to check on if she was still alive. She is better off dead to everyone here, and in your hands, Craft Lord Varil, then in mine," the man said in a strange and strained tone.

Varil was silent, "You can be reassured, sir, that I am doing the best I am able to do so. There are few that I care for so much, and she is family to me, but she grows more beautiful by the day. I am uncertain if I can keep the hounds off her until she is able to chose for herself which mongrel she wants to keep," he said after some time.

The man laughed, "From the way you talk, and sound- I suspect- that you would be unwilling to part with her if she choses another. If she does, you must prepare for that eventuality, but if not then I think- you will be most happy with her. My youngest inherited Cori's mothers looks, but it is Cori herself, that seems to be a reincarnation, of my dearest," the man finished.

"But she is among your youngest, surely you loved your other wives, before her!" Varil said.

"It was a brief marriage- she died from childbirth and the youngest has always blamed herself and grew hard from it. Cori was sent away at that time, to my sisters, and when she came back she was easily distracted by some bribe. She believed us when we told her that her mother was simply away then, eventually we told her that her mother abandoned this clan and that the strange woman was to become her new mother- simply accepted it," the man said.

"But then who is the woman that is mistress of this household then?," he asked.

"She is my wife, but we both agreed, that there are to be no more children. Cori and her sister, are the last, that I will sire. I cannot bring another, into this world, with this curse over us..." the man said before realizing he said too much and bidding Varil to forget that comment physically booted the Craft Lord outside- their game seemingly unfinished.

Varil didn't say much else over it. She always suspected him of experiencing more but she didn't news of her mothers' death was a blow to her but it was an expected blow. She shrugged it off as best she could and she wondered if it was a good idea to try and reach her family after so long. She lived long enough to teach her daughter of the secret in her blood. Her mother laughed at her fascination with the forges. She always believed her mother and one day with a wink and a whisper she said in time Cori would be able to do things that no one else could. The fact she didn't have a guardian beast was justified as her mothers prediction came true. She was rather special as she could tap into the energy herself- fire, water, wind, and lightning- and imbue it with that energy- at a cost. Alternatively she could naturally use the past energy of a forge- and weapon- that it naturally had and add it to the forged weapon. It was always at a cost to her but she couldn't afford to summon a guardian beast and the best pieces to be made were enchanted or enhanced by them. She did it alone but the best pieces she made often left her bed ridden for a week. It was worth the effort and she was well compensated.

The idea of a guardian beast disturbed her. She had long worked without one and she was among the best Craft Knight's in the Gold Guild. Her skill was hard earned, and she worked very hard to keep it sharp. She knew the weapon intimately, but in using it she was only a fair fighter. Her advantage was knowledge and her agility combined with flexibility. In raw physical strength, hers was the best among the females, but she didn't try to match the males. Her best weapons were naturally the claws, and her weakest were the axe. The weapons were just tools and tools could be broken. Her body was one as well but it was essential- her weapon was an extra and she took care to avoid damage to both in a fight. If it was a choice between a blade and her arm, though, she would be willing to have the blade break in the arms stead. She was envied enough without one- and she won three tournaments against with her own weapons alone- against those with guardian beasts. It was rare to have a person enter without out, but to be under twenty one singled her out as a rare exception. The fact that she won the tournament, or ranked in the top five, without one, made her feared and admired.

"It would weaken me," she thought, "I'll sell out but I'm waring out from the effort..."

It was hard to admit but she was. The last weapon she made nearly made her sick for a week. The cost was going up and she only had a finite source of... whatever to fill it. It was against everything she knew to do so but she loved being a Craft Knight. Varil would probably pay for the summoning. Again she resisted further. She didn't want to owe Varil anymore then she did. He raised her as his own, and cared for her dearly. It was difficult to see him as a father figure though. She looked up to him but was his young friend who tagged along with him at first. Then they were not quite equals but friends. He helped her like an older brother. The last half year was lonely as she didn't realize his influence in her life. She couldn't see him as an older brother after seeing him for the first time after the break. Whatever her feelings for him, she resolved, she wouldn't let it cloud her judgement.


End file.
